TBS Owns Cable on Christmas Thanks to 'A Christmas Story'
by EG
It probably wouldn't work as a long-term strategy, but for at least one day a year, TBS has figured out how to eclipse everything else on cable: find one movie that everyone loves and show it over and over again. The network's 24-hour marathon airing of "A Christmas Story," which began on Christmas Eve and ran through the day on Christmas Day, was the most-watched program on cable for both days.
All three airings of the movie on Christmas Eve drew bigger ratings in the 18-49 demographic than anything else on cable. The 8:00 pm showing was the most watched, with a 1.8 rating and 5.2 million total viewers.
On Christmas Day, the 10:00 am showing won the day with a 2.1 rating, and the noon airing was in second place. "A Christmas Story" wasn't as dominant as it was the night before, though; NBA games on ESPN and several episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (also on TBS) managed to out-draw other airings of the movie. Episodes of "Family Guy" and the "Doctor Who" Christmas special also scored ratings above 1.0.
How do you explain the dominance of repeated showings of a single movie over a 24-hour period? Chances are viewers tuned in to TBS and stayed tuned in during their holiday festivities. And, of course, Christmas isn't Christmas without Ralphie.